Stop Disney® Stars from Negatively Influencing Young Girls!

Cyrus and Tisdale's public sexual behavior

Miley Cyrus and Ashley Tisdale embody the dangers of teen star's actions.

The Disney Channel®, famous for producing huge stars that cater to a younger, now known as ‘tween’, audience, is one of the most dangerous influences to young girls. Miley Cyrus, the star of "Hannah Montana", a show in which the main character, creatively named Miley Stewart, leads a double life as a regular girl and a rock star, as well as Ashley Tisdale star of "High School Musical", a made for television movie that aired on The Disney Channel® as well as its sequel High School Musical 2, which was estimated to have been “the most watched event ever broadcast on basic cable, surpassing the debut of "Monday Night Football" on ESPN®” (“Premiere of ‘High School Musical 2’ Breaks Ratings Record”), are possibly some of the most famous, not to mention worst, role models for young girls. Miley Cyrus, Miley Stewart, and Hannah Montana is a

Cyrus poses provocatively

15-year old girl with three different names, a has-been dad (Billy Ray Cyrus), a hit album, and a hit television show. This is a lot for one girl to handle, and it is the sort double-threat fame that talents twice her age are unable to attain, but she has handled it well, up until now. In recent months, the star has been involved in countless scandals including multiple provocative photographs. While, admittedly, some of these so-called scandals, like the uproar caused when Miley was “criticized for telling the magazine that "Sex and the City" is her "favorite show!’” (Jordan and Tan), dig up too much and are simply looking for gossip, others do legitimately model inappropriate behavior for young girls. Recently, photographs published in "Vanity Fair" have upset parents and fans alike for their age-inappropriateness.
Listen to NPR's "Talk of the Nation" about Miley's photographs
These photos came out after scandalous photos of her revealing her bra and suggestively laying and showing off her stomach appeared on the Internet. In response to these, Cyrus issued a statement to "People Magazine," saying, “‘The pictures of me on the Internet were silly, inappropriate shots. I appreciate all the support of my fans, and hope they understand that along the way make mistakes and I am not perfect,’” (Marikar,2).
"People" polled readers asking: What do you think of Miley Cyrus's photos in Vanity Fair?
Inappropriate for a 15-year-old: 76%
Appropriate for a star: 24%
How do you think the photoshoot will affect her career?
Hurt it

Cyrus' scandalous internet photos

: 52%
Help it: 48%
Tell us what you think!

Miley in her underwear

Similar pictures of Cyrus have previously made their way to the Internet, but these are the first for her to apologize for, negating any conspiracy theories about them being of a look-alike. While her apology is appreciated by many parents, it does not convey the serious nature of her acts. Many young girls may believe that Cyrus is a good role model and want to be like her, which may involve taking pictures like hers. She simply says that they are ‘silly’, but ignores the possible serious consequences that the taking of pictures like these could include, and does not say that other girls should not do this. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, however, does say that parents should tell their children “to never upload (post) pictures of themselves onto the Internet or on-line service to people they do not personally know” (“A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety”).
Other girls popular with Disney®, however, have not indecent photographs causing problems for them, but lyrics too mature for their main audience. Ashley Tisdale, one of the stars of Disney’s® "High School Musical," began her career with The Disney Channel® by appearing on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," and has since had other successes, but in transitioning from teen queen to the music scene, Tisdale has begun acting her age, 22. Perhaps more mature lyrics make sense considering her age, but considering her audience, they aren’t appropriate. Her first single “He Said, She Said” contains such lyrics as “Maybe I can see us moving like that. Maybe I can see us touching like that. Baby I can see us kissing like that,” and “One night with you, boy just one night with you, all the things we could do”(cite), which needed to be edited down to be played on Radio Disney®. The music video for the song is equally offensive, with Tisdale in a club atmosphere, dancing suggestively. The inappropriate lyrics aren’t only in her non-Disney® professional life, but also appear in High School Musical 2, in which Tisdale plays Sharpay Evans, a spoiled teenager. One of the songs she sings is titled “Fabulous” in which she details all of the brand-name items she’ll need to be ‘fabulous’: “Fetch me my Jimmy Choo flip flops, where is my pink Prada tote? I need my Tiffany hair band, and then I can go for a float” (cite). Materialism runs rampant among teenagers, and it certainly doesn’t need to start earlier than it already does, and this song only encourages girls younger and younger to base their lives upon brand-name goods. It is a problem that other countries see in America, and a problem that many parents face, because in the life of a teenager, the brand of purse, clothes, or even backpack one carries, can have a huge hand in popularity, and that should not be encourage by stars catering to young girls. We respect the fact that girls grow up and have a desire to act more mature, but in some cases, this is not completely possible. In the case of Miley Cyrus, the maturing is happening much too quickly than anyone, likely even her parents, are comfortable with, and with Ashley Tisdale, when so many young girls don’t understand that she is significantly older and thus cannot understand that her behavior is not appropriate for them, must edit herself and her lyrics so that they grow up with her audience instead of with her. It is not fair of these stars, and especially not of Disney®, to provide parents with a sense of trust and security in the programming and influence of their stars, and then quickly revoke that, leaving parents forced to explain to children why Hannah Montana is showing her bra, or why they can’t sing Ashley Tisdale’s songs.

What we must remember about these public figures are the people, primarily young impressionable young girls who look up to these young women as role models. At such young ages, the actions of those who we look up to are mirrored in our own behavior. If young girls see these pictures of Cyrus and Tisdale, or listen to their lyrics and believe that if their "dreams could come true" after spending a night with a boy, what are we teaching these young women about being women? If we hear Tisdale singing about being fabulous, which constitutes being rich and materialistic, these young girls, impressionable at best, will believe this to be the case. On youtube alone, there are many videos of girls dancing and singing to "Fabulous". Here, the girls are not more than 10 years of age and seem to be having fun, but what is this teaching the girls? If they are already at the stage of impersonating Ashley they obviously look up to her and admire her, but the subject that is perceived as cool, materialism, is disturbing. maybe its just that they "need a little fabulous" as the song states and then later asks, "is that so wrong?". When materialism is seen as an admirable quality and something to look up to in a person, yes it is wrong. Teaching these young girls it is acceptable to be materialistic and self-centered is not the type of women we want to lead the world.